Dirty Beginning (Dirty 0.50)

“Too bad the old man here snatched you up, but if you want to have a good time, you’ll go out with me sometime,” Grant says, winking .

I smile. “I don’t know if I can go out with someone who loses to me in poker .”

“I haven’t lost yet—unlike Killian who is about to get slaughtered .”

Grant begins dealing the cards again, drawing his attention away from me. My thoughts stay on Killian though, even as the cards are dealt. I don’t remember that story. I don’t remember that happening, and it’s quite an extravagant lie just to keep Grant away from the truth—that we are basically having an arranged marriage .

I glance at my cards. I call on my turn. I’m giving half of my attention to what Killian just said and the other half to the game at hand .

After we have all called, Grant flops the first three cards .

I quickly count my outs and then calculate my odds—fifty-five percent. It’s greater than the pot odds. I double the bet on my turn .

Why in the hell did Killian tell that story? How did he know I was dating Eli ?

Another card is turned over. My odds increase to sixty percent .

I look at Killian. I notice a tiny bead of sweat forming on his face. His leg is shaking under the table. He increases the bet again. He’s lying .

But just moments ago, the only sign was him avoiding my gaze. That was the truth. Suddenly, I remember. I remember seeing a strange, hot man having lunch with Eli. I remember going back to Eli’s apartment and studying before waiting for him to walk me to my afternoon class, like he always did—except, that day, I never made it to class. When Eli got home from that lunch, we got in the worst fight we had ever been in. Eli seemed to think I was already engaged to another man. That it would never work out with us. He broke up with me that night. Killian was the one that told him I was engaged. Killian broke us up .

“All in,” I say, pushing the chips into the middle of the table .

I can’t stay here any longer. I don’t care about winning or losing anymore. I don’t care about flirting with Killian anymore. I just want to get out of here .

I see the shock on Killian’s and Grant’s faces, but they both push their chips in. Grant flips the last card, and then I flip my cards over, despite it being out of turn .

“Royal flush.” I glance right and then left when they both flip over their cards—a full house and

a straight. “I win .”

I push my chair back and get up. I walk out without a word. I can’t breathe as I run down the hallway. , so I run down the stairs of the hotel building. I need to be moving. I need to get away from Killian .

If it wasn’t for him, I could still be with Eli. I could have chosen my own love, my own future. Instead, Killian convinced Eli to break up with me. Instead, he chose my future for me .

T he air outside is warm and just as stifling as it was inside the hotel room. I begin the long walk back to my hotel—alone. I could call a car to pick me up, but I don’t. I prefer to be alone .

I make it a few steps before I look up and see Killian standing on the sidewalk, waiting for me. Damn it !

The elevators must be faster than climbing down five flights of stairs in heels. I can’t walk around him. I can’t avoid him. So, I just walk to him .

“What just happened?” he asks .

“Nothing. Just we’re done. I don’t want to be friends. I definitely don’t want to marry you. And I don’t want your help. I just want to go back to being nothing .”

I begin walking again, and he falls in step next to me. He doesn’t say a word for an entire block. He doesn’t touch me either even though my body is begging for him to .

“I’m sorry,” he finally says. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth .”

I glare at him. “What is the truth ?”

“The story I just told you is the truth. I was giving a presentation to a class at Yale. I knew Eli a little bit from my past, not enough to really have lunch with him, but then the opportunity came up, and I took it. I knew from your father that you were dating him. I just wanted to learn more about you, to see if you were happy with Eli. If you were, I wouldn’t approach you. I wouldn’t say anything to Eli about your father’s arrangement with me. But if you weren’t happy…well, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do .

“When you came into that restaurant that day, you looked sad, withdrawn. Even when you kissed him, it wasn’t a kiss of passion. I couldn’t let you waste the only few years of freedom you had left on that douche bag. So, I told him the truth. Well, I told him that you and I were already engaged, and no matter what he did, you would never marry him .”

“He broke up with me that night because of you.” My face is fuming bright red .

“I only did it to help you find someone who would make you happy. I thought, if you were away from him, you would find someone else .”